SAP Loses Bid to Dismiss Portions of Oracle Lawsuit

SAP AG, the world’s largest maker of business-management software, lost a bid to throw out six of Oracle Corp.’s 10 claims in a $1 billion copyright lawsuit accusing it of stealing software code.

U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton in San Francisco today denied SAP’s request to dismiss claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and unfair competition, as well as other claims. SAP argued in court papers that some claims were preempted by federal copyright law.

Oracle, based in Redwood City, California, alleges SAP stole copyrighted software codes and support documents to bolster a service for customers that use Oracle software and to eventually convert them to SAP products.

Hamilton granted SAP’s request to dismiss copyright- infringement claims by two Oracle units. Oracle is the world’s second-largest software maker behind Microsoft Corp. It has said it may seek as much as $1 billion damages. A trial is scheduled for February.

SAP spokesman Saswato Das said in a phone interview that the company is “disappointed that the court did not accept all” of its positions. “We look forward to working with the court to achieve the proper resolution of this case,” he said.

SAP, based in Walldorf, Germany, said last year that it had made “inappropriate” downloads of Oracle’s support documents. The company denied it had access to Oracle’s intellectual property and said its Byran, Texas-based TomorrowNow unit had a right to make use of Oracle’s Customer Connection Web site and download support materials on behalf of its customers.

The case is Oracle Corp. v. SAP AG, 07-01658, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco).